The People the Time forgot - Edgar Rice Burroughs (chromebook ebook reader .txt) 📗

a second shot.

In answer to the report of the rifle I had the satisfaction of seeing
the brute spring into the air, turning a complete somersault; but
it was up again almost instantly, though in the brief second that
it took it to scramble to its feet and get its bearings, it exposed
its left side fully toward me, and a second bullet went crashing
through its heart. Down it went for the second time--and then up
and at me. The vitality of these creatures of Caspak is one of
the marvelous features of this strange world and bespeaks the low
nervous organization of the old paleolithic life which has been so
long extinct in other portions of the world.

I put a third bullet into the beast at three paces, and then I
thought that I was done for; but it rolled over and stopped at my
feet, stone dead. I found that my second bullet had torn its heart
almost completely away, and yet it had lived to charge ferociously
upon me, and but for my third shot would doubtless have slain me
before it finally expired--or as Bowen Tyler so quaintly puts it,
before it knew that it was dead.

With the panther quite evidently conscious of the fact that dissolution
had overtaken it, I turned toward the girl, who was regarding me
with evident admiration and not a little awe, though I must admit
that my rifle claimed quite as much of her attention as did I. She
was quite the most wonderful animal that I have ever looked upon,
and what few of her charms her apparel hid, it quite effectively
succeeded in accentuating. A bit of soft, undressed leather was
caught over her left shoulder and beneath her right breast, falling
upon her left side to her hip and upon the right to a metal band
which encircled her leg above the knee and to which the lowest
point of the hide was attached. About her waist was a loose leather
belt, to the center of which was attached the scabbard belonging
to her knife. There was a single armlet between her right shoulder
and elbow, and a series of them covered her left forearm from elbow
to wrist. These, I learned later, answered the purpose of a shield
against knife attack when the left arm is raised in guard across
the breast or face.

Her masses of heavy hair were held in place by a broad metal band
which bore a large triangular ornament directly in the center of
her forehead. This ornament appeared to be a huge turquoise, while
the metal of all her ornaments was beaten, virgin gold, inlaid in
intricate design with bits of mother-of-pearl and tiny pieces of
stone of various colors. From the left shoulder depended a leopard's
tail, while her feet were shod with sturdy little sandals. The
knife was her only weapon. Its blade was of iron, the grip was
wound with hide and protected by a guard of three out-bowing strips
of flat iron, and upon the top of the hilt was a knob of gold.

I took in much of this in the few seconds during which we stood
facing each other, and I also observed another salient feature of
her appearance: she was frightfully dirty! Her face and limbs and
garment were streaked with mud and perspiration, and yet even so,
I felt that I had never looked upon so perfect and beautiful a
creature as she. Her figure beggars description, and equally so,
her face. Were I one of these writer-fellows, I should probably
say that her features were Grecian, but being neither a writer nor
a poet I can do her greater justice by saying that she combined all
of the finest lines that one sees in the typical American girl's
face rather than the pronounced sheeplike physiognomy of the
Greek goddess. No, even the dirt couldn't hide that fact; she was
beautiful beyond compare.

As we stood looking at each other, a slow smile came to her face,
parting her symmetrical lips and disclosing a row of strong white
teeth.

"Galu?" she asked with rising inflection.

And remembering that I read in Bowen's manuscript that Galu seemed
to indicate a higher type of man, I answered by pointing to myself
and repeating the word. Then she started off on a regular catechism,
if I could judge by her inflection, for I certainly understood no
word of what she said. All the time the girl kept glancing toward
the forest, and at last she touched my arm and pointed in that
direction.

Turning, I saw a hairy figure of a manlike thing standing watching
us, and presently another and another emerged from the jungle and
joined the leader until there must have been at least twenty of
them. They were entirely naked. Their bodies were covered with
hair, and though they stood upon their feet without touching their
hands to the ground, they had a very ape-like appearance, since they
stooped forward and had very long arms and quite apish features.
They were not pretty to look upon with their close-set eyes, flat
noses, long upper lips and protruding yellow fangs.

"Alus!" said the girl.

I had reread Bowen's adventures so often that I knew them almost by
heart, and so now I knew that I was looking upon the last remnant
of that ancient man-race--the Alus of a forgotten period--the
speechless man of antiquity.

"Kazor!" cried the girl, and at the same moment the Alus came
jabbering toward us. They made strange growling, barking noises,
as with much baring of fangs they advanced upon us. They were
armed only with nature's weapons--powerful muscles and giant fangs;
yet I knew that these were quite sufficient to overcome us had we
nothing better to offer in defense, and so I drew my pistol and
fired at the leader. He dropped like a stone, and the others turned
and fled. Once again the girl smiled her slow smile and stepping
closer, caressed the barrel of my automatic. As she did so, her
fingers came in contact with mine, and a sudden thrill ran through
me, which I attributed to the fact that it had been so long since
I had seen a woman of any sort or kind.

She said something to me in her low, liquid tones; but I could not
understand her, and then she pointed toward the north and started
away. I followed her, for my way was north too; but had it been
south I still should have followed, so hungry was I for human
companionship in this world of beasts and reptiles and half-men.

We walked along, the girl talking a great deal and seeming mystified
that I could not understand her. Her silvery laugh rang merrily
when I in turn essayed to speak to her, as though my language was
the quaintest thing she ever had heard. Often after fruitless
attempts to make me understand she would hold her palm toward me,
saying, "Galu!" and then touch my breast or arm and cry, "Alu, alu!"
I knew what she meant, for I had learned from Bowen's narrative the
negative gesture and the two words which she repeated. She meant
that I was no Galu, as I claimed, but an Alu, or speechless one.
Yet every time she said this she laughed again, and so infectious
were her tones that I could only join her. It was only natural,
too, that she should be mystified by my inability to comprehend
her or to make her comprehend me, for from the club-men, the lowest
human type in Caspak to have speech, to the golden race of Galus,
the tongues of the various tribes are identical--except for
amplifications in the rising scale of evolution. She, who is a
Galu, can understand one of the Bo-lu and make herself understood
to him, or to a hatchet-man, a spear-man or an archer. The Ho-lus,
or apes, the Alus and myself were the only creatures of human
semblance with which she could hold no converse; yet it was evident
that her intelligence told her that I was neither Ho-lu nor Alu,
neither anthropoid ape nor speechless man.

Yet she did not despair, but set out to teach me her language; and
had it not been that I worried so greatly over the fate of Bowen
and my companions of the _Toreador_, I could have wished the period
of instruction prolonged.

I never have been what one might call a ladies' man, though I like
their company immensely, and during my college days and since have
made various friends among the sex. I think that I rather appeal
to a certain type of girl for the reason that I never make love
to them; I leave that to the numerous others who do it infinitely
better than I could hope to, and take my pleasure out of girls'
society in what seem to be more rational ways--dancing, golfing,
boating, riding, tennis, and the like. Yet in the company of this
half-naked little savage I found a new pleasure that was entirely
distinct from any that I ever had experienced. When she touched me,
I thrilled as I had never before thrilled in contact with another
woman. I could not quite understand it, for I am sufficiently
sophisticated to know that this is a symptom of love and I certainly
did not love this filthy little barbarian with her broken, unkempt
nails and her skin so besmeared with mud and the green of crushed
foliage that it was difficult to say what color it originally had
been. But if she was outwardly uncouth, her clear eyes and strong
white, even teeth, her silvery laugh and her queenly carriage,
bespoke an innate fineness which dirt could not quite successfully
conceal.

The sun was low in the heavens when we came upon a little river
which emptied into a large bay at the foot of low cliffs. Our
journey so far had been beset with constant danger, as is every
journey in this frightful land. I have not bored you with a
recital of the wearying successions of attacks by the multitude of
creatures which were constantly crossing our path or deliberately
stalking us. We were always upon the alert; for here, to paraphrase,
eternal vigilance is indeed the price of life.

I had managed to progress a little in the acquisition of a knowledge
of her tongue, so that I knew many of the animals and reptiles by
their Caspakian names, and trees and ferns and grasses. I knew
the words for _sea_ and _river_ and _cliff_, for _sky_ and _sun_ and
_cloud_. Yes, I was getting along finely, and then it occurred to me
that I didn't know my companion's name; so I pointed to myself and
said, "Tom," and to her and raised my eyebrows in interrogation.
The girl ran her fingers into that mass of hair and looked puzzled.
I repeated the action a dozen times.

"Tom," she said finally in that clear, sweet, liquid voice. "Tom!"

I had never thought much of my name before; but when she spoke it,
it sounded to me for the first time in my life like a mighty nice
name, and then she brightened suddenly and tapped her own breast
and said: "Ajor!"

"Ajor!" I repeated, and she laughed and struck her palms together.

Well, we knew each other's names now, and that was some satisfaction.
I rather liked hers--Ajor! And she seemed to like mine, for she
repeated